Religion and Human Rights Unit
We seek papers that explore the topics of religion and human rights from a breadth of scholarly perspectives. We seek analyses of the way in which particular religious actors and traditions articulate the compatibility or incompatibility of religion and human rights; how human rights serve to complicate or enhance our understanding of categories such as “religion” and “secularity”; and how the intersection of religion and human rights implicates issues of race, gender, law, politics, ecology etc.
Proposals on any topic related to religion and human rights are welcome. In keeping with this year’s presidential theme of Freedom, we are particularly interested in proposals on the following topics:
We invite papers that address the fight or struggle for rights and freedoms. Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- examination of grassroots movements whose members engage in organized struggle and solidarity on behalf of their own, and/or others’, rights and freedoms. The groups in question may or may not be religiously affiliated, but we seek presentations that employ a religious studies lens to understand how these movements pursue the struggle for rights;
- analysis or explanation of “Know Your Rights”-style trainings held by religiously-affiliated, academic, or other groups to educate members of marginalized communities on the content of their rights and how to claim them. We also welcome proposals for a mini-workshop in which a presenter (or panel, in the case of a full panel proposal) demonstrates a “Know Your Rights” or similar training and educates audience members on how to develop such a training;
- proposals that discuss the concept of “struggle” as a religious, social, and political idea, and engage with scholarship on the importance of struggle or agonistic approaches to protection of rights and to human freedom and well-being.
- legal constructions of religious freedom and how such constructions draw upon, shape, and/or favor particular formulations of religion;
- current efforts to harness religious freedom for the protection/propagation of progressive causes such as reproductive rights, immigration protections, etc.;
- comparative legal, political, and/or cultural discourses of religious freedom.
- the relationship between an instructor’s academic freedom and their teaching obligations;
- strategies for utilizing religious studies materials for teaching about contentious topics;
- strategies for supporting the academic freedom and free speech rights of students;
- explorations of attacks on academic freedom at the hands of political administrations;
- academic freedom and campus protest.
The Religion and Human Rights Unit seeks to enhance both scholarly and public conversation around the intersection of religion and human rights ideas and practices. We solicit papers in any area of religion and human rights studies. Topics we engage include: how particular religious actors and traditions articulate the compatibility or incompatibility of religion and human rights; how human rights serve to complicate or enhance our understanding of categories such as “religion” and “secularity”; how religious and human rights approaches address particular cases and social issues; how grassroots and social movement organizations approach ideas and practice of human rights; and how the intersection of religion and human rights implicates issues of race, gender, law, politics, etc. We recognize that both human rights and religious ideologies can inspire thought and action that benefits the vulnerable and promotes the common good; at the same time, both can serve the interests of power, oppression, and colonialist hegemony. Thus it is vitally important to evaluate and critique both. Participants in the unit approach these topics, and others, from diverse areas of study, methodologies, and perspectives. The unit also prioritizes the public understanding of religion in conversation with human rights ideas. Human rights is a much-discussed topic in the media and political circles, yet much public dialogue assumes that religion and human rights are either straightforwardly congruent with each other, or straightforwardly opposed to each other. The unit welcomes papers that critique, nuance, and enhance public understanding of the intersection of religion and human rights.
The Religion and Human Rights unit strives for diversity and critical conversation in its unit makeup and public output. Our selection process for unit steering committee and chairs is open to all who express interest, and we intentionally recruit steering committee members from diverse demographic groups and intellectual and professional experiences. We strive to formulate our calls for papers to encourage submissions and presentations from diverse members of the AAR and to bring to light multiple diverse, critical perspectives on topics in religion and human rights.
The co-chairs compose the Call for Proposals for R&HR sessions for the AAR Annual Meeting. Steering committee members review, shape, and accept proposals for those sessions; review and report on sessions; and often serve as presiders or respondents for particular panels. Co-chairs communicate with the R&HR constituency.
The Steering Committee is made up of nine members, two of whom are elected by the members to serve as co-chairs. A Steering Committee term is three years, renewable for a second three years if everyone is amenable. The terms are staggered, so that there are continuity and change on the committee. During a total of six possible years, a member might serve a co-chair term, which is three years. A member elected to serve as co-chair has at least one full year’s experience on the Steering Committee. The co-chair elections are staggered as well, so that each new co-chair serves with an experienced co-chair.
| Chair | Dates | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Jenna Reinbold | jreinbold@colgate.edu | - | View |
| Laura Alexander | lealex@unomaha.edu | - | View |